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Our Wise Elder and Story Tellers Wise Elder Stephen Sterling
| Wise Elder Stephen Sterling |
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| Written by Website Adminstrator Adminstrator |
| Sunday, 17 May 2009 21:31 |
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Stephen Sterling Stephen Sterling is an international reputation as a leader in the field of education for sustainability, and writing and lecturing on systems thinking, sustainability, learning and systemic change. Currently Stephen is a co-director of the Bureau for Environmental Education and Training (BEET), and an independent consultant in environmental and sustainability education working in the academic and NGO fields in the UK and internationally. He was a founder of the Education for Sustainability Programme at London South Bank University (LSBU), London, where he is an Associate Fellow of the Centre for Cross-Curriculum Studies and an academic tutor. He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at Centre for Research in Education and the Environment at the University of Bath, and a member of the IUCN Commission on Education and Communication.
He has an extensive publications record, including Good Earth-Keeping: Education, Training and Awareness for a Sustainable Future (UNED-UK 1992), Education for Sustainability (Earthscan 1996) (with John Huckle), Education for Sustainable Development in the Schools Sector (Sustainable Development Education Panel, 1998), and Sustainable Education – Re-visioning Learning and Change, (Green Books/Schumacher Society, 2001). His interest lies in the interface between systemic thinking, ecological thinking, learning and sustainability and this was the subject of his doctoral research. He is the lead researcher/writer for the WWF Scotland Linking-Thinking project, introducing systemic thinking in education
Stephen has agreed to support MRCSE as a wise elder ... My take on your work, as little as I know directly, is that rebuilding local connectivity - in all ways and senses - is vital to flourishing now and survival and wellbeing in the future, set against the immense challenges that lie just ahead. We need to rediscover community, and in so doing rediscover that our identity and fulfilment lies beyond our immediate sense of self.
Stephen challenges MRCSE to enhance our response-ability:
How can expand our 'system of interest' (what we consider, and value) to encompass 'the other' - be it your neighbour, wildlife, your community, your town, your planet - and our 'system of influence' (what and where we know can make a difference) to match such an enhanced sense of responsibility? Responsibility in an ethical sense it part of it, but so too is response-ability, that is, the ability to respond to the issues and opportunities that lay before us. I'm sure that MRCSE is working exactly on that, to enhance individual's and communities response-ability.
Stephen offer some of his work of systems thinking and sustainability as preparation for the workshop:
Sterling, S (2004) ‘Systemic Thinking’, in Tilbury, D and Wortman, D (eds), Engaging People in Sustainability, IUCN, Gland.
His other works include:
Sterling, S. (2005). Whole Systems Thinking as a Basis for Paradigm Change in Education: Explorations in the Context of Sustainability, (PhD thesis), Centre for Research in Education and the Environment, University of Bath, www.bath.ac.uk/cree/sterling.htm.
Sterling, S. (2004). The Ecological and Environmental Dimensions of the Holistic Curriculum. In Encyclopaedia of Life Support Systems (Theme 6.6.1 ‘Education for Sustainability’), EOLSS Publishers, UNESCO.
Sterling, S. (2004). Higher Education, Sustainability and the Role of Systemic Learning. In Corcoran PB & Wals, AEJ (eds.), Higher Education and the Challenge of Sustainability: Contestation, Critique, Practice, and Promise, Kluwer Academic.
Sterling, S. (2004). An Analysis of the Development of Sustainability Education Internationally: Evolution, Interpretation and Transformative Potential. In Blewitt, J and Cullingford, C (eds), Sustainable Development: A Challenge for Higher Education, Earthscan, London.
Sterling, S (2001) Sustainable Education – Re-visioning learning and change, Schumacher Briefing no.6. Schumacher Society/Green Books, Dartington. |
| Last Updated on Sunday, 17 May 2009 22:04 |
